Mitchell Marsh, who was brought by Rising Pune Supergiant for Rs 4.8 crore in the Indian Premier League auction, could skip the tournament and focus on County cricket to prolong his Test career.

Mitchell Marsh, who recently notched up his maiden Test century in the third Ashes Test against England in Perth, has decided to focus on County cricket rather than the Indian Premier League. (REUTERS)

Not many would perhaps opt out from playing in the razzmatazz Indian Premier League, given that besides the quality of cricket being played, the kind of paycheck that one takes home is always been a lucrative factor.

As the 11th season of the domestic competition draws near, Mitchell Marsh might be one of those rare names to forego a contract simply because the Australian wants to focus more on playing county cricket. Having been bought for the now defunct Rising Pune Supergiants at a whopping sum of USD 1million (Rs 4.8 crore), Marsh’s recent heroics in the Ashes coupled with his overall form might have seen him end up with a higher price tag this season.

Having played 23 Tests so far, Marsh was included in the side for the last two Tests at Perth and Melbourne after having last featured for the Baggy Greens back in March v India. The right-handed batsman slammed a cracking 181 at Perth and then followed it up with an equally vital unbeaten knock of 29 runs to help his side end the fourth Test in a draw.

And for Marsh, the comeback to red-ball cricket is something that has motivated him to link up with former Australia batting coach Michael Di Venuto at Surrey.

“It was a fairly big decision from a money point of view but my ultimate goal is to play Test match cricket for Australia,” Marsh was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo. “I made the decision based on my cricket. When I made that decision I didn’t really think I was going to be back there this quickly. We’ve got a lot of cricket coming up in England over the next few years and I want to give myself the best opportunity to be over there and get used to the conditions.”

However, Marsh admitted that he hadn’t taken the decision completely on his own. “I spoke to Boof [Darren Lehmann] about it, spoke to Justin Langer about it - and obviously my old man (father Geoff Marsh). They all said it was a good idea but ultimately the decision was mine and I’m very happy with it,” Marsh said.

The 26-year-old was in a stellar form in the domestic Sheffield Shield tournament last year and had slammed 402 runs in just 10 games, including a century. He had also led the Western Australia side to lift the JLT Cup, scoring 339 runs at an average of 169.